Frequently Asked Questions about Teams

What is the origin of CFL team names? What is an Alouette, Stampeder, Roughrider, or Blue Bomber, etc.?

BC Lions

The B.C. franchise adopted the Lions nickname after a fan contest to select the team's moniker before their inaugural 1954 season. The name Lions comes from the twin mountain peaks north of Vancouver who are said to be guarding Vancouver. The team was briefly called the BC Cubs1 in 1953 when for one season before joining the professional ranks the organization played exhibition games against any competition they could find: teams from Kamloops, Victoria, the Navy, UBC, and a U.S. Army team from Fort Lewis. This was an effort to get the Canadian players, which made up a large part of the squad, some experience and playing time before joining the WIFU the following year.

Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders are named after the Calgary Stampede, the world's largest rodeo, held annually in Calgary. The team adopted the name in 1945. A stampeder is an animal participating in a sudden, panic-stricken rush of animals. Like the use of stampeder for a person participating in a gold rush at the turn of the last century, stampeder was also likely used to refer to one who attends/participates in the Stampede Rodeo.

Calgary has a long history of teams with the Stampeder name, in hockey, baseball and other sports. Prior to the formation for the Stampeder Football Club in 1945, Calgary hosted teams called the Bronks in the WIFU and Altomahs and Tigers among others in the Alberta and Calgary Rugby Unions.

Edmonton Eskimos

The Edmonton Eskimos are named for the Eskimo, or Inuit, of northern Canada. Eskimo is currently considered an antiquated name and offensive to some in Canada, and Inuit is preferred. While not located in the far north land of the Inuit, the nickname Eskimos was likely adopted for the alliterative effect and as a reference to Edmonton's northern location. The original name used in Edmonton was Esquimaux from 1897 to 1908 but not affiliated with the current team, from the archaic French spelling. Edmonton has faced some pressure in the past couple decades to change their team name, most recently in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017.

Canada has used racial nicknames such as Indians, Blackhawks, etc. in the past and continues to do so in the minor ranks in imitation of the professional squads. Eskimos being the only professional linked name in Canada with First Nations connections, it also is used by minor teams, though sparingly due to the lack of a recognizable logo. A first step should be to stop using these names at a minor level, where it is much easier to change. Such a change across the country may setup future generations where changing these names is more acceptable across the population.

Social and sports commentators who call a name change inevitable do so out of political correctness — to not support it is insensitive and racist — but mention nothing of addressing the social issues facing the Inuit, as if changing the name will balance the books on what is owed. Editorials calling for support for programs to address the food and housing issues in northern communities would better serve the Inuit than calling for inevitable name change and being silently against any tax dollars being spent in the territories. Boomers looking to hang on to the name with suggestions of Esks or Eskies as replacements also miss the point, prevented from seeing the issue from their perspective of white male privilege. While pressure from Inuit groups and the majority of Canadians will make a name change more likely, it is Edmontonians that need to decide they no longer want the name for action to be taken.

As for changing the name, it may or may not be inevitable; no one can predict the future. However, for a team with a long, proud history like the Eskimos, it won't happen overnight. While the Inuit calling for the change accept the name of the past won't change (the Edmonton Eskimos will still be 14 time Grey Cup champs with a string of five from 1978–1982 in the history books), for a fan base to accept it, it will come gradually. No team has done this before (the Washington Bullets change to Wizards was owner driven, not community) without inheriting a name. If it is to be changed, finding an replacement nickname the community can rally around is the first step. Deciding to abruptly switch or transition the name will depend on what is chosen and whether existing logos can be evolved. The biggest obstacle to fans is the immediate loss of history and identity a name change brings, and so if the change can be seen as something better (associated with the city, fiercer, etc.) it can quickly gain support. This process can take years, not a one-month naming contest, or someone in Toronto dragging out an old name (Elks) with a complete lack of context, for fans to become accustomed to the options, and settle on one.

Edmonton has a long history of teams with the Eskimo name, in hockey, baseball and other sports in all levels of competition.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats originated when the Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats merged in 1950, forming the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Tiger-Cats is correctly spelled with a hyphen and capital letter 'C'.

The Hamilton Football Club took the name Tigers in 1873 due to their yellow and black uniforms. The Wildcats were formed in 1941 to play in the ORFU when the Tigers suspended operations due to the Second World War. The Wildcats suspended operations for 1943-1944 but the Flying Wildcats continued the name during those years. They were called Flying Wildcats due to the presence of many RCAF members on the team, though they had no affiliation with a military base. They played two seasons in the ORFU before the Wildcats name returned. The Tigers returned to the IRFU in 1945, but after three seasons of financial and competitive problems, they swapped leagues with the Wildcats for two seasons before the teams merged in 1950 to play in the IRFU.

Montreal Alouettes

The Montreal Alouettes literally translated are the Montreal Larks. Alouette is the French term for a skylark, a type of bird. The term Alouette has a strong connection in Quebec from the folksong of the same name.

The Alouettes were founded in 1946 by Lew Hayman, Eric Cradock and Leo Dandurand, who decided for the team to be successful in Montreal it needed a bilingual name. They selected the Alouettes name to meet this criteria, and won a Grey Cup for Montreal in 1949, 4 years after founding the team.

Montreal Concordes

Briefly in the 1980's the Montreal team was know as the Concordes after the franchise was revoked in 1982 and assigned to a new ownership group, but the intellectual property for the Alouettes name still remained with the original owner, Nelson Skalbania.

The Concorde name was chosen for its bilingualism. It originated from the latin motto of Montreal — Concordia Salus (well-being through harmony) — but also (perhaps unintentionally) played on the supersonic passenger jet Concorde, though the team logos reflected the latin motto origin.

The Alouette name was reacquired and the team renamed for its final full season before folding before the 1987 regular season.

Prior to the Alouettes founding in 1946, Montreal hosted a team in the IRFU that had a multitude of English names in the later years and an association with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association going back to 1885.

Ottawa Rough Riders

The generally accepted origin for the Ottawa Football Club is they adopted the nickname Rough Riders and red and black colours on Sept. 9th, 18982, the colours and name from the Canadian Regiment3 of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American war.

While a Sept. 9th adoption of the name would have been at the peak of popularity of the term, with the regiment returning home from Cuba Aug. 14th after the Spanish surrender, the regiment disbanded on Sept. 15th, six days after this naming tribute.

It has also been suggested the nickname originated from the title given to log drivers who rode timber down the Ottawa River. The term rough rider was very popular in the last decade of the 1800's. “Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World” (1893-1908) first popularized the name, though rough-rider was used to describe one who breaks or rides unbroken horses in the old west. Roosevelt's Rough Riders, consisting of college athletes, cowboys and ranchers recruited from the southwest, brought to mind the performers in Buffalo Bill's show and hence were given the same nickname in the press. Other professions, like log drivers, or rugby teams were given the nickname to reflect a rough and tough quality, which was in some ways respected and enjoyed from afar.

As usual, there is more to the story than what legend has provided, as this research by Chris Sinclair has discovered.

Formed in 1876, the Ottawa City Football Club were members of the QRFU in 1897. On Nov. 6 in a game against Ottawa College, Hal Walters was penalized for rough play and responded by attacking the referee. On Nov. 8 the QRFU held a special meeting to address the attack amongst other business. At the meeting, testimony was brought forward that throughout the season Ottawa City players would deliberately punch opposition players in the face while at the bottom of a pile. Hal Walters was given a lifetime suspension from the QRFU and Ottawa City was suspended indefinitely from the QRFU.

On Sept. 9, 1898, the Ottawa Rugby Football Club held their organizational meeting for the 1898 season after being accepted into the ORFU. Ottawa was required to choose new colours as black and white were in use by Osgoode Hall. Ottawa chose white and red. Sweaters were described as white with red sleeves and socks and possibly black pants. Ottawa newspaper accounts referred to the team as the "Senators" frequently during the season, though they would be referred to as Ottawa(s) or Ottawa City in headlines, scoring summaries, roster lists, etc.

On Oct. 15, in a home game against the Hamilton Tigers, Ottawa resorted again to rough play and dirty tactics. Several Hamilton visitors suggested the QRFU may have been justified in suspending Ottawa. Ottawa players were accused of choking Hamilton players and deliberately driving knees into the chests and stomachs of defenceless Hamilton players on the ground. In the days that followed, a number of derogatory names4 were directed towards Ottawa including "murderers", "stranglers" and "roughriders". The term "roughriders" was first used by Hamilton Spectator sports writer C.A. Mitchell5 to describe the Ottawa team.

Ottawa club executive Fred Carling decided to run with the "Rough Riders" name and he commissioned the production of the Carling pin6 featuring the name and a player in a football stance adorned in a cowboy or slouch hat and clothing similar to Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders Calvary uniform. The pin sold for 10 cents.

Rough Rider Button

Fred Chittick [Ottawa player] has received his Rough Rider Buttons, and they have made a big hit. The button is about an inch and an eighth in diameter, and has the figure of a rough rider with a football enclosed in a border of red, white and black - the club colours. The button is a handsome one.

– Ottawa Journal — November 12, 1898.

The Rough Riders Carling pin

For the Oct. 29 return match in Hamilton, an additional train car was needed to accomodate all the Ottawa fans making the journey to Hamilton, with most fans adorned with the Carling pin. Henceforth, the Ottawa City team was known as the Rough Riders.

In subsequent seasons, Ottawa's dirty tactics subsided, but the Ottawa Rough Riders were still known for their physical play. This allowed Ottawa to dominate on the wing line and finish with at least a share of first place in three out of the next four years (1899-1902). Ottawa players wore the Rough Riders moniker as a badge of honour. By 1902, the ORFU was down to two teams, and the league believed there were additional teams willing to play but they were intimidated by Ottawa's physical play.

In 1903, in an effort to limit the physical play of the Ottawa Rough Riders and attract new teams, the ORFU adopted the Burnside rules which included the introduction of the snap back and the reduction of the number of fielded players to 12. Neither Ottawa or Toronto liked the rules, resulting in Ottawa applying for admittance to the QRFU and being accepted while Toronto played an exhibition schedule. Toronto reluctantly returned to the ORFU in 1904.

In 1907, the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tigers left the ORFU to form their own league which would not use the Burnside rules, but the CRU rules that were in effect for the inter-league playoffs and national championship. Ottawa and Montreal were also asked to join, and the Ottawa City Rugby Club dropped the Rough Riders nickname and played as the Ottawas in the IRFU, or Inter-provincial Rugby Football Union. This continued until 1913, when they merged with Ottawa College to form the Ottawa City University Rugby Club as a combined City and College team, continuing to play as the Ottawas. The next season, they reverted back to Ottawa City Rugby Club. Though they played as the Ottawas, the name "Senators" started to again be associated with the team in this year. By 1921, Ottawa is consistently referred to as the Senators. It is unclear whether the Senators name ever became official or just a popular name.

In 1931, Ottawa officially changed their name back to Ottawa Rough Riders. The team also used solid black uniforms7 with white and red stripes on sleeves and socks for this season before returning to red uniforms the next season.

Adapted from research by and containing material and quotations from submissions by Chris Sinclair

Based on this research, the Rough Riders label came not as a naming tribute at the annual organization meeting but the parlay of an insult into a nickname of repute later that year. While the popular language of the time lent the name to the club, its origin came from the team's rough play rather than a way to honour an foreign military regiment. Also, the black and white colours of the team were in use prior to this nickname being bestowed, though their suspension from the QRFU led Ottawa to add red to its colours. While the supposed origins of the name from a calvary regiment or lumberjacks made great stories, the actual story has more football truth.

None of the problems with the origins dispute that Ottawa was officially known as the Rough Riders over 25 years before the Western team adopted the name Roughriders. Unfortunately, the Rough Riders folded after the 1996 season.

Ottawa Renegades

A franchise returned to Ottawa from 2002-2005 as the Renegades, which was selected by the owners from fan submissions.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

The nickname Roughriders adopted by Regina likely comes from the name given to horsemen, specifically those that broke broncos. NWMP members who played two rugby matches in Winnipeg in 1890 were referred to as "Roughriders" and Regina was home to the NWMP, who later became the RCMP. While the team was referred to casually as the Roughriders once in 1915 in the Regina Leader the team officially adopted the name in 19248. Prior to that they were known as the Regina Rugby Club. In 1946 the team switched to a provincial designation and became the Saskatchewan Roughriders, officially adopting that moniker in 1950.

Whoa! Just a minute, two Rough Riders?

Each team, the Rough Riders and Roughriders, developed their nicknames with completely different origins, meanings and spellings from each other. As they played in separate Rugby Unions the teams were not under the same organization until the Unions formed under the Canadian Football Council in 1956 (later the CFL in 1958). Partial interlocking play did not begin until 1961, at which time the two clubs would first face each other in regular season play. With the abolishing of the separate independent Western and Eastern conferences in 1981, the last vestiges of the old rugby unions were dismantled and all teams became direct members of the the CFL. Canadians were intelligent enough to distinguish the two teams and they co-existed for 40 years.

As mentioned, the Ottawa Rough Riders folded after the 1996 season and their former owner, Horn Chen, retained the rights to the team name and logos. The CFL has since reacquired those rights. Since this time, there has been just the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL, who made it certain that an Ottawa franchise named the Rough Riders would not return. Any ridicule should now be directed towards the SEC who has three teams which share the nickname Tigers (two in the same division and a third who joined in 2012, not at formation) and two that share the nickname Bulldogs. For shame, the SEC stooping below the level of the CFL is immensely embarrassing for them. The CIS has the Saint Mary's Huskies and the Saskatchewan Huskies with Saskatchewan just waiting to lay sole claim to the Husky name. </sarcasm> Hardly unique, the Rough Riders/Roughriders situation fuelled more criticism that any other similar circumstances. For pardoning college teams for duplication due to "history", "loyalty" and "tradition" but condemning it in the professional ranks even though it is a result of "history", "loyalty" and "tradition" is more than hypocritical. It is a pattern of using inconsequential issues to diminish the CFL instead of pointing out actual deficiencies in the product.

Toronto Argonauts

The Toronto Argonaut Football club was formed by the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club in 1873. The rowing club naturally selected the maritime nickname Argonauts after the Greek band of heroes who accompanied Jason in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. That nickname followed to the football club who have retained it to become the oldest professional sports club with its original name. The Argos slogan “Pull Together” was used on their logo until the late 1960's and works in a football sense as well as the obvious rowing connotation.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Winnipeg was known as the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club, or "Winnipegs", whose colours were blue and gold starting in 19329. A comment by a reporter calling the team "the blue bombers of Western Football" in 1936 led the team to be called the Blue Bombers first unofficially, then officially soon after. The bomber reference was to heavyweight champion Joe Louis, popular at that time, whose nickname was the Brown Bomber.

How many teams are in the CFL? How many and what were the US based teams in the CFL? What are the US cities linked to potential CFL franchises? How many teams have participated in the CFL?

As of 2014, there are nine teams in the CFL, aligned in a 4-team East Division and 5-team West Division. The cities represented are the original nine cities represented by franchises when the CFL formed in 1958: Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. A Razzle Dazzle CFL Primer has information on the CFL franchises and their locations.

For most of the league's history (since formation of the CFL in 1958) there have been nine teams in the league. The league had a nine-team membership from 1958 through 1986, eight teams from 1987 to 1992, nine teams in 1993, twelve teams in 1994, thirteen teams in 1995, nine teams in 1996, eight teams from 1997 through 2001, nine teams from 2002 to 2005 and eight teams from 2006 to 2013.

In the 1990's seven US cities were home to CFL franchises, Sacramento (relocated to San Antonio), Las Vegas, Memphis, Birmingham, Shreveport and Baltimore. The Baltimore franchise eventually relocated to Montreal to become the current Alouettes. Two US cities were granted franchises which never materialized, Orlando and San Antonio, while their were many cities named in relocation speculation of the Las Vegas and Shreveport franchises including Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Jackson, Mississippi and Norfolk, Virginia.

The CFL's 1992 expansion plans1 outlined by new commissioner Larry Smith targeted Portland, Sacramento, and San Antonio as serious US expansion sites with Orlando, San Jose, St. Petersburg, Las Vegas, Birmingham and Hawaii as other candidates. Other cities mentioned by league executives and media in the 1990's included Detroit, Rochester and Fargo. Prior to the 1990's, numerous cities were mentioned by the league as locations for American offers to purchase a franchise, most commonly New York and Detroit.

In all, from the beginning of the Grey Cup history starting in 1907, 57 teams have participated in play in 32 cities. Thirteen of these teams are Word War II service teams that competed when most civilian teams suspended operation during the war. At least another ten teams were amateur or university clubs.

What is the CFL expansion draft format? What have been the rules for CFL expansion drafts?

The CFL (and its precursors) has had three periods of expansion (see A History of Expansion section). In 1954, the addition of the BC Lions to the WIFU provided no expansion draft. The 1990's US expansion period provided no expansion draft since US franchises were not held to roster limits imposed by the CBA. In 2002, the addition of the Ottawa Renegades provided the CFL's first expansion draft. A list of players taken in CFL expansion drafts can be found via the CFLdb Statistics Draft page.

The expansion draft rules for the next teams to join the CFL (first used for the Ottawa RedBlacks joining in 2014) were agreed to and released in 2013. The Ottawa RedBlacks expansion draft was held on December 16th, 2013. The rules provided for:

three draft rounds, one import player round and two non-import player rounds with Ottawa receiving 8 imports (including 2 quarterbacks) and 16 non-imports

first import round member clubs will protect one quarterback and ten other import players. Ottawa will select one player from each member club in this round.

first non-import round member clubs will protect six non-import players. Ottawa will select one player from each member club in this round.

second non-import round member clubs will protect an additional six-non-import players. Ottawa will select one player from each member club in this round.

each team can protect one quarterback, Ottawa can select two quarterbacks during the draft

if a quarterback is selected from a member club, that club will be able to protect two additional non-import players in the first non-import round of the draft

if a kicker or punter is selected from a member club in the import draft, that member club will be able to protect one additional non-import player in the first non-import round of the draft.

non-import kicker or punter must be selected in the first non-import round of the draft. If such a player is selected, the member club losing such a player would be able to protect an additional two players in the second non-import round.

teams will not be able to lose both a quarterback and kicker/punter in the draft.

In addition Ottawa selected in the ninth position of each of the first four rounds of the 2013 draft where they could only select NCAA underclassmen. In 2014, Ottawa selected in the first position of each round of the draft as well as the last two picks. Ottawa also was provided a negotiation list (for unsigned players) of up to 25 players and 10 quarterbacks prior to returning to the league and adopting the standard 35 player negotiating list.

Ottawa inherited the contracts of players selected in the expansion draft. Ottawa was also able to start signing Free Agents (player not under contract to another team) on Monday, November 25, 2013.

The 2002 Expansion Draft allowed the Ottawa franchise to select:

1 quarterback from each of the existing Club's roster or negotiation list (clubs could protect 3 quarterbacks, not more than 2 on their active roster).

1 import player from each of the existing Club's roster.

7 non-import players, of which no more than four may be offensive lineman and no more than one be a kicker

following the initial selection of non-imports, clubs submitted names of six non-imports to protect. Ottawa could then select one additional non-import player from each existing Club or the 2002 2nd Round Draft choice of the the existing Club.

When did the CFL have an equalization draft? How did the CFL equalization draft work?

The CFL held an equalization draft in February or March of 1987, 1988 and 1989. The 1987 draft was to be held in secret by the league but the overall plan to reduce salaries was leaked to the press before the draft could be held. The 1987 draft was officially referred to as the Competitive Balance Plan by the league and results were announced the week of February 15th, 1987. Future equalization drafts had public rules defined before their execution. For a list of all CFL drafts, and the players taken in them, see the CFLdb Statistics Draft page.

The equalization draft was not arranged to balance talent or competitiveness between divisions, but to achieve cost control while improving the competitiveness across the league by improving the depth on teams with the poorer records the previous season.

From A Passing Game:

As part of the means of equalizing talent and lowering salary costs, an equalization draft was proposed. If such a draft did not work, clubs would have to make decisions whether "to renegotiate or terminate through the waiver process." In any event, "Kimball cautioned that this discussion should be treated in a confidential manner ... [there was] no reason for this information to become public ... [It was] strictly an internal matter of cost control." Further, he stated: "There could be damaging consequences in media reaction, fan perception, and player morale if the subject reaches the public forum."

Later:

When the equalization draft was discussed, there was a fear that too much knowledge by the players and public would harm the league. Doug Mitchell asked directly: "Can a draft of sorts now be held without it becoming public information that a certain player was available for the draft and another was not, and only this player and not this player?" The result was an indication of some of the methods of conveying misinformation. Paul Robson said, "It could be done discretely with subsequent announcements about being traded." Joe Faragelli's view was, "the head coach should be able to control his staff ... [There is] no reason why a player should know whether he was or was not made available for the draft." And Joe Galat thought that "the waiver process [should] be used by each club to expose the market those players whose costs now exceed their value."

Almost immediately, the report was leaked and the league was again putting out fires. Some blamed Leo Cahill for the information which "appeared in an Ottawa paper of January 9th which prompted adverse reactions from the Players' Association, the media and general public." At the Management Council meeting in Edmonton, January 21, 1987 "on a point of order" Cahill stated emphatically that he was not in any way responsible for a lapse in security following the meeting of January 7th.

The 1987 draft provided for the three teams in the league with the lowest records in the 1986 season to choose four players from the remaining six teams which qualified for the playoffs in 1986. Each team was able to protect 25 players and could not lose more than two players in the draft. The selecting teams were Montreal, Ottawa and Saskatchewan. The exact rules of the 1987 draft were not made public and before the leak, the league expected to explain the player movement through trades or waivers. Of the twelve players selected, five were non-imports and seven were imports. Montreal withdrew from the league after the 1987 pre-season and their players were distributed to other teams in a dispersal draft.

As the rules were formalized and made public for future years, the purpose of the draft became to redistribute non-import talent across the league. In 1988 the bottom team in each division in the previous season (Ottawa and Saskatchewan) selected three players from the remaining six teams. Non-participating teams were allowed to protect a specified number of non-import players; the remaining non-import players were made available to the draftees. Non-participating teams could lose a maximum of one player in the draft, once a player was selected from a team, further players were not allowed to be selected from that team. In 1989 Calgary and Ottawa participated as draftees.

The following table provides a list of players selected in the three equalization drafts. The order of players listed does not reflect the order the players were selected.

In 2017, Nolinor Aviation entered into a 3-year partnership with the Montreal Alouettes to provide chartered plane services to the team for all road games requiring travel by air. As part of the agreement, Nolinor will provide the same specially configured Boeing 737-300 for all Alouettes flights. In addition to the configuration of seats to accommodate the needs of a sports team, chartering allows the Alouettes to set their own arrival and departure times for road games.

Teams have used train or bus travel to reach their destination for shorter trips in the past. For example, Toronto and Hamilton have and will continue to travel to games with each other by bus due to their close proximity. This has also occurred for games between Calgary and Edmonton and Winnipeg and Saskatchewan as well, though this has been replaced by charter or commercial flights in the West in some instances. Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal continue to travel to games among them by train, though not necessarily for every game.

Travel decisions such as charter or commercial flights are not always about the cost. Some other factors affecting travel arrangements are:

scheduling. Not all cities have direct commercial flights to destination cities so layover requirements and time of departure/arrival are factors.

available capacity. Teams will need at least 62-65 seats on any commercial flight, which may not be available on some regional short-haul carriers. On the other hand, a 70-seat regional charter aircraft is the perfect size for the team.

equipment load. The carrier must be able to accommodate the equipment the team needs to bring with them or arrangements must be made to ship it separately.

For these reasons, charter flights can be the better option in some cases. Commercial flights are more likely used when their are frequent flights to major destinations like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. When commercial flights are used, coach class would be the norm except when upgraded by the airline. There are not enough first-class/business class seats on most domestic flights to accommodate a complete football team, nor do all flights have multiple seating classes.

At present no CFL team has a private jet (see Montreal situation above, second paragraph), which is par with about 90% of North American professional sports teams I believe. To my recollection the only time a team has flown by private jet was the Toronto Argonauts in the early 1990's when majority owner Bruce McNall flew the team on the Los Angeles Kings' Boeing 727 (if I recall correctly) for a few games.

Travel costs for franchises will be in the $700,000+ range. This is based on the Edmonton Eskimos 2016 financial statements showing Away game costs of $753,995 (12 games, two to Calgary) in 2016 and $713,000 (11 games, including Grey Cup, two to Calgary) in 2015. It is assumed this includes flights and hotels and also meals and player per diems, which is confirmed by the above Montreal figures.

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